Merrybellies Belly Dance
What is Belly Dance?
Not everyone uses the term belly dance. In the Middle East and beyond, people call the dance(s) raks sharki (Arabic for dance of the East), raks baladi (national or folk dance) and oriental dance.
We are fortunate to know many styles and forms of belly dance. Dances originating from regions across more than three continents (Turkey is located in both Europe & Asia, by the way!) have their own names (and stylistic distinctions).
There are similarities between regional styles. Cultural exchange between artists always ensures that art does not remain static. Fusion has been a part of all art forms as far back as we can trace.
As for the origins of belly dance, we can only guess based on ancient art depicting dancers and the minimal written history of dance. Most exciting: these movements have survived all kinds of censure: religious strictures, sexism, and racism.
Want to know why these ancient dance movements have survived and inspired women all over the world to shimmy, undulate, and zhagareet?
Learn to Belly Dance!
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